Health system invests $17.1 million more at Geisinger CMC

Michael J. Mullen / Staff Photographer
Geisinger Community Medical Center construction at Mulberry Street and Colfax Avenue is part of a capital improvement program at the hospital.

Amid construction on the city hospital's expansion project, Geisinger Health System announced plans on Wednesday to invest an additional $17.1 million at Geisinger Community Medical Center.

Approved by the health system's board of directors, the investment pushes the capital funding earmarked for the project to $97.1 million, and covers the construction of a sky bridge and two new hospital floors, officials said.

Meanwhile, the board allocated another $7.3 million - leftover funds from its Mount Pleasant project - for infrastructure upgrades, including boilers, chillers and the hospital's ventilation systems.

The investment is part of the health system's pledge to commit $158.6 in capital improvements at the hospital over the next seven years.

"We're keeping the commitment way ahead of time," said GCMC Chief Medical Officer Anthony Aquilina, D.O. "We've essentially committed almost all of the promise within the first two years."

Launched this summer, construction on the then-$80 million expansion project included 14 state-of-the-art operating rooms, a 950-square-foot waiting room and a new 18-bed intensive care unit equipped with video monitoring capabilities. The project is expected to be complete by summer 2015.

Carrying over Colfax Avenue, a sky bridge will connect the third floor of the parking garage to the new operating suite waiting area, officials said. Meanwhile, the two additional floors will serve as "shell space" for future clinical programs, such as more intensive care units, officials said.

"If our targets are any indication of the future, we anticipate the need for more space down the line," said Maureen Fitzsimmons, Northeast regional chief administrative and nursing executive. "It gives us the opportunity to build going forward."

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